In order to continually improve the properties of tires, it is necessary to measure their performance. An obvious way to measure the performance of a tire is to observe the wear data after normal operation and use. However, since tires now perform for tens of thousands of miles, the length of time required to observe this performance can be very long. As a result, alternatives to accelerate this time frame, while controlling the resource costs, are continually being sought after.
Driving a vehicle continually around a track for an extended period of time (for example, four weeks or more) can produce time-accelerated wear data much faster than the normal running of a vehicle. While this does represent a significant reduction over measuring wear during normal vehicle operation, it still represents an extended period of time, and does require significant resources, e.g., vehicles and drivers.
Similarly, indoor simulations of the outdoor tests, for example, running a mounted tire against a belt or drum for a set period of time, has also been used. This can not only reduce the time required to obtain useful wear data down to a week or less, but clearly reduces the costs associated with driving around a track.
On a laboratory scale, another indoor test which has been used in the past is the use of Lambourn-type machinery. This test requires molding a tire rubber composition into a small wheel or disk, which is then run against a larger, abrasive wheel. While this method similarly reduces the time required to generate wear data, the data must be analyzed closely, since it is not rubber from an actual tire.
Accordingly, there is a continuous search for ways to generate wear data which reduces both testing time, materials and resources, while at the same time improving the correlation of test data with normal vehicle-tire operation and use.